Karla Does Christmas

The beautiful young lady in the photograph above is Karla Homolka's little sister, Tammy, who died tragically on Christmas Eve, 1990. An evening of holiday merriment at the Homolka home turned dark when Tammy  died as a result of being drugged and raped by older sister Karla and her fiance, Paul Bernardo. Although Tammy's death was initially ruled an accident, an unfortunate consequence of consuming too many holiday cocktails, the awful truth about what really happened that night was eventually revealed.

Years later, Karla testified against Bernardo (her estranged husband at that time) as he stood accused of two counts of first-degree murder in the sex-slayings of 14 year old Leslie Mahaffy and  15 year-old Kristen French. Behind closed doors with her lawyer and the police, and then again on the witness stand, Karla confessed that she helped Bernardo procure young victims to appease his desire for brutal sex with under age girls. She also confessed that one of those victims had been her own sister, Tammy.

In her 2005 interview with CBC Radio-Canada, Karla Homolka told reporter Joyce Napier that she has a particularly hard time coping with what she did around the holidays, presumably because of what she did to Tammy:

I think about it all the time. At every anniversary, every Christmas, all the time.

Teacher Homolka: Rumour or Reality?

"Schoolgirl Killer" now a teacher?

Surely, this cannot be...

In her $3 e-book Finding Karla, Paula Todd made a strong case for why she ventured to seek out 

Karla Homolka, the woman who had reportedly fled to Guadeloupe with her new husband and child after serving a controversial 12 year prison sentence for her role in the sex-slayings of three Ontario teenagers.

Bloggers were now reporting that Homolka was teaching schoolchildren in the Caribbean. Karla Homolka teaching children?

[...] If there was a chance she was teaching children, many Canadians would want to know. And the only way to know was to find her.

Indeed, they would. Presumably, concerned parents in her new country of residence would want to know, as well. An estimated 65000 - 70000 copies of the 38-page booklet were purchased online; clearly, the public was eager to learn what "Karly Curls" was up to. However, after speaking with Homolka in person, Todd seemed convinced that the Teacher Karla myth was as good as debunked.

Bye Bye, Bébé Douceur

Karla Homolka's online business, Bébé Douceur, has disappeared.

Apparently, now that her clientele knows she did 12 years in prison

for rape and murder sucked all the fun out of hocking diapers.

Note: Children's faces have been obscured for their protection.

CBC Radio-Canada Interviews Karla Homolka

I was able to cobble together a web-ready version of this hard to find

interview using raw video files contributed by kouheikun @ WKH2012.

PART 1

PART 2

Note: Small portions of this videotaped interview are missing;

a complete (translated) transcript is provided after the jump below.

Immediately following her release from prison on July 5, 2005, Karla Homolka and her lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais, sat down with CBC Radio-Canada reporter Joyce Napier for an interview.

Before Canada's Most Hated Woman even opened her mouth, people across the nation were incensed that she had chosen to conduct the interview in French. This meant that the majority of people who lived in the province of Ontario, where she committed her crimes, were forced to accept the first (and probably only) public statement she has ever made concerning her role in the the rape-murder spree that dominated headlines in the early 1990s.

I've read this interview a number of times, and if I were asked to summarize it in the simplest of terms, I would say: low self esteem  (+) desire for relationship (x) rape-murder spree that captured global headlines and rocked an entire nation (=) out of prison in time to birth a child for each innocent life she stole (?)

Fatal Error. Cannot compute.

The Fifth Estate: Karla Homolka

Thanks to the tireless staff at WKH2012, this long lost episode of  the award-winning documentary series The Fifth Estate is accessible once again. 

As I watched the program (which I hadn't seen in years), all the same feelings of horror, sickness, sadness, and rage stirred in me anew. The Fifth Estate illuminates Homolka's role in the sex killings of three Ontario teenagers in shocking clarity; the sheer gall with which an unaffected Homolka recites the details of her crimes is nothing short of astounding. 

Bernardo & Homolka: Worst of the Worst

Macleans just released the results of a poll which probed readers' minds to determine the worst of the worst in the Canadian crime arena. As expected, the diabolical duo topped the list, beating out reviled criminals like Clifford Olsen, Russell Williams, and even Robert Pickton, who confessed to killing more than 40 women.

"The case of Homolka, who secured a controversial 12-year sentence in exchange for testifying against her husband, is perceived as a miscarriage of justice by 52 per cent nationally, but only 29 per cent in the Atlantic provinces. (The survey of 1,510 randomly selected Canadian adults was conducted from Oct. 29 to 30, 2012, and has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.)

Still, there is no such regional divide when it comes to the crimes of Homolka and Bernardo—who continues to serve his life sentences in protective custody in Kingston. The pair were rated among the worst of the worst in every part of the country. And, as with Pickton and Olson, public revulsion over their misdeeds is unlikely to fade anytime soon. They were convicted not just in law, but in the court of public opinion too."

Source: Macleans 

Karly Curls 2.0

Karla Homolka honeymooning in Hawaii with Paul Bernardo

Like countless other teen queen's of yesteryear, Karla Homolka continues to evolve with the times. The woman who once dreamed of being showered with gifts and affection from "Big Bad Businessman" and serial rapist Paul Bernardo, now seems content in raising her three young children in relative anonymity. I use the term "relative" because I don't believe that it's possible for her to live completely under the radar, and not for the reasons that you might think.

Most who have followed the case know that Karla's unassuming life as a mother and teacher has received a lot of media attention following the release of Paula Todd's e-book Finding Karla. However, full credit for unearthing Homolka in Guadeloupe cannot be given to Todd, as she merely proved correct a number of long-standing theories that had been freely available online. Not even the savvy staff at the popular forum WatchingKarlaHomolka (now WKH2012), who first confirmed her new location, can lay exclusive claim to bragging rights concerning the scoop.

So who is really responsible for finding Karla? The answer is: Karla Homolka herself.

Lori Homolka: "It's so easy to con people."

Mascara & Murder has received hundreds of hits using the search terms "Lori Homolka." Given the fact that people seem rather curious about her, I wanted to provide some fuel for the discussion.

About two years ago, I came upon a small, Internet window through which to view the life that Lori has been living since her family was thrust into the spotlight in the most sensational criminal trial in Canadian history. Please note that Lori now goes by the name "Logan," presumably to escape some of the attention focused upon the now infamous Homolka family.

In most cases, the families of depraved individuals like Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka tend to feel victimized themselves, or struggle with issues of guilt by association. This being said, I always get a really bad taste in my mouth when I recall the way that Lori encouraged Karla to alter her appearance in order to come back and live with the family in St. Catharines after her release from prison.

In a letter to her imprisoned big sister, she wrote:

"People are so stupid, Kar. Even if they bumped into you, they'd never know it was you, especially since you're supposed to be spending all your time in jail. They would never know. Just like if you came back to St.Cath. That would be the last place people would expect you to be, especially when I tell everyone you'll never, ever come back here.

See, that's my plan. People wouldn't know if it was you... People wouldn't know if it was you if they even had a conversation with you. People really are dumb. It's so easy to con people."

Bernardo's First Love

Paul Bernardo's relationship with high school sweetheart Nadine B. was explored to a certain extent by Scott Burnside and Alan Cairns in Deadly Innocence.

It's actually quite startling to compare his first serious relationship to the one which ultimately produced three dead teenagers. The crucial difference between Nadine and Karla Homolka is the fact that Nadine knew enough to walk away from the serial rapist in the making while Homolka did everything she could to keep him by her side -- including offering up her sister for the Christmas Eve rape that ended her life.

The Smirnis Brothers: Where are they now?

The Smirnis brothers were childhood friends of Paul Bernardo who lived across the street, and later became an integral part of his eventual capture. It is widely known that Van Smirnis introduced Bernardo to the easy money lifestyle of smuggling alcohol and cigarettes across the U.S./Canadian border. 

Steve and Paul had a falling out in the early 80's after Steve became briefly involved with Paul's love interest at the time, Nadine B. The relationship between Paul and Steve was never fully repaired, although Paul travelled to Texas to attend Steve's wedding in 1987.

In the summer of 1990, Alex Smirnis and his wife provided information to police about their suspicions that Paul may have been the Scarborough rapist. However, their tip was ultimately dismissed by police after interviewing Bernardo.

Two years later, Van Smirnis contacted police about Bernardo much in the same way that his brother had, suspecting that he may be the Scarborough rapist. Paul was again questioned by police, who decided (again) that the bright, professional young man before them couldn't possibly be the monster they were looking for. Paul wasn't arrested until February 17, 1993, after forensic testing had confirmed his involvement in several of the rapes in Scarborough.

Van Smirnis appeared on the Maury Povich Show after Paul was sentenced, along with a number of other folks associated with the case, including Karla Homolka's aunt, Patti Seger; the first person that Karla spoke to about the murders. The transcript of this interview is available through WKH2012.

At present, the Smirnis brothers are all alive and well, and can be found on Facebook.

Bernardo-Homolka tweet not trending

Paul & Karla pose for a holiday photo

next to an image of slain little sister, Tammy Lyn,
who died on Christmas Eve, 1990

Screen capture from Lena Dunham's Twitter
October 17, 2012

 Acclaimed actress and filmmaker Lena Dunham is currently under fire due to her not-so-funny idea for a Halloween costume to 380,000+ followers on Twitter. Dunham is best known for creating and starring in the HBO series Girls. On October 16, she wrote to fellow  actors/comedians Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak:

"You guys go as killer Canadian couple Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka. I’ll be her sister they murdered. Scariest! Luv U!"

Homolka Clone on TV's Dexter

Is Dexter's "Hannah McKay" based on Karla Homolka?

A new character appears in Season 7 of the wildly popular television series Dexter bears an eerie resemblance to convicted killer Karla Homolka. 

Although it has not been (and probably won't be) confirmed, this would make all the sense in the world given the attention Homolka and her case have received recently, in spite of her efforts to live life anonymously following her release from prison.

"Hannah was apparently involved with an older man named Wayne Randall while the duo went on a killing spree until caught. In order to avoid jail time herself, she turned state's evidence on her accomplice insuring that he was put away while she could start a new life."

Source: Dexterama

 "Here’s where the real parallel could be between the two parties: Hannah may have been much more involved in the killings with Randall than she initially told to police, and this is something Dexter is going to have to find out a little bit more of as the season progresses. Based on the video, we are starting to think that Dexter and Hannah could go down the relationship route here. Both parties clearly have some sort of dark passenger that they have dealt with for several years, but on the surface it does look like Hannah has found a way to get over it. Is this truly the case, though?"

Source: Carter

"I cried more hearing her tell what happened..."

Karla Homolka poses for a photograph in Joliette Institution.

Doesn't really look like prison, does it?

I am sure there are people who wonder why anyone would want to expend large amounts of their time and effort maintaining a blog like Mascara & Murder, which deals with some of the most gruesome and horrific subject matter imaginable. Hell, I've even contemplated it's value at times and have, on occasion, thought about throwing in the towel. Very recently, while perusing my blog stats, I came upon a discussion that bolstered my will to continue slugging it out in the darkest of places in the name of access to information.

The following is a snippet posted by a woman who was in contact with Karla Homolka through their shared interest in parenting-related sites and forums. I was so touched by what she said that I signed up for a BabyCenter account just so that I could tell her how much I appreciated her taking the time to share her feelings.

Karla Speaks for Herself

In spite of everything that has been said about Karla Homolka by the multitudinous professionals assigned (in some way or another) to her case, I have always felt that her own words speak volumes about her involvement in the crimes. 

Simply reading about her comments to police in preparation for then-estranged husband's trial, and her sworn testimony on the stand reveals only part of the picture. The full effect of her statements can only be experienced with the assistance of Karla herself: her appearance, her demeanor, and the apparently unaffected ease with which she delivers the chilling details surrounding the deaths of three innocent young women. 

My interest in obtaining the documentary aired by The Fifth Estate was primarily due to the fact that it contains some video footage of Homolka's cautioned statement to the police following her agreement to cooperate fully in the Bernardo investigation in exchange for a lesser sentence. While the footage amounts to less than seven minutes in total, the "diagnostic mystery" that is Karla Homolka speaks for herself.

Karla Speaks for Herself: Part 1

Extracted from: CBC's The Fifth Estate

This episode can be obtained in its entirety here. 

Thanks to: WKH2012

Karla Speaks for Herself: Part 2

Extracted from: MSNBC's Dark Heart, Iron Hand

This episode can be obtained in its entirety from: 

WKH2012

Kowtowing to Karla?

(Image: badgifs)

During my ritualistic daily examination of incoming traffic, I came upon a passage that I wanted to share on this blog:

"Perhaps she thinks it’s pointless to try to make up for her crimes when her crimes can’t be undone, and perhaps she just thinks of herself as a being who has done bad things, and has now moved on, and why can’t the world realize that and leave her alone. What she doesn’t get is what the world would be like for her and her children if everyone on Earth acted just like Karla Homolka."

Devil in the Flesh

The post referenced above appears to have been inspired by Paula Todd's e-book which -- like it or not -- has successfully re-introduced this fiercely unknowable creature to the masses at a time when the blonde kill-bot may have thought she was home free.

While some people have voiced the opinion that Karla Homolka should be left alone now that she has children of her own, I am unable to fully give myself to this moral undertaking.

To assume that her children are in danger's path now that the whole world knows where (and who) she is is to assume that the world is full of people like her, and it's not. Mercifully, the utter lack of respect for human life she exhibited is exceedingly rare. Moreover, is it wise that we continue kowtowing to a woman who is effectively using three innocent children as human shields?

Perhaps the reason why a dedicated group of observers have remained vigilant all these many years can best be described using the words of grieving mother Debbie Mahaffy:

"I can't imagine that she could walk out of prison and find anywhere to live in Canada where she doesn't look over her shoulder, or wonder... and I think that's a good thing."

Finding Karla... for profit

Paula Todd

(Image: CTV News)

Is it possible to profit from a decades-old criminal case about a series of brutal sex-killings, and the woman who (essentially) got away with murder? Sure it is; just ask Paula Todd.

According to a recent article in the Hamilton Spectator, Todd's e-book Finding Karla is enjoying brisk sales. The piece has sold between 65-70,000 copies, for an estimated $200,000 in gross sales revenue -- not bad for a 14,000 word e-book that contains (mostly) information which has been available online, for free, for quite some time.

Todd explained why she ultimately settled on the online "e-book" format:

"I didn’t have the luxury of waiting a year for it to see print as a real book or two or three months for publication in a magazine. And I’d spent a lot of my own money tracking her down. I couldn’t make it back on the kind of money magazines pay."

Personally, I have my own suspicions concerning why Finding Karla turned up as a Kobo Single rather than in a conventional book or magazine. Todd's e-book was released just in time to exploit a spike in renewed interest in Karla Homolka following an unfortunate re-telling of a long-standing rumour that the ex Mrs. Paul Bernardo had been romantically linked to Luka Magnotta. At the time, Magnotta was at the center of an international manhunt for the murder of Concordia University student Jun Lin, which was videotaped and subsequently broadcast online. It is widely believed that the rumours concerning Homolka and Magnotta was started and perpetuated by Magnotta himself in a desperate attempt to drum up publicity for his flailing career as a male model and porn star. By the time Montreal Police corrected the error, it was too late -- the ridiculous rumour was already back in circulation.

What better time to publish a book about Homolka than when public interest in her case was at its highest point since her release from prison? I suspect that, had she waited any longer, she would have missed out on the opportunity to ride the coat-tails of another horrific violent crime.

Todd's interview with the "schoolgirl killer" has been called "the scoop of the century" by drama llama Christie Blatchford, but in my own opinion it is nothing of the sort. In the hour that she spent in her home with Todd, Homolka simply recited her familiar refrain; refusing to discuss her crimes, her life, or anything other than what had led the freelance journalist to her doorstep.

While Paula Todd may well have "found" Karla, it's not as though she accomplished some great feat of investigative reporting. The hard-working staff at WatchingKarlaHomolka pinpointed Homolka's location in Guadeloupe several years ago, and have been discussing it online, free-of-charge, ever since.  Paula Todd is hardly a crack gumshoe, she is merely the first person to have considered Killer Karla worthy of the hefty airfare.

For the record, Homolka also maintains an address in Montreal, where she resides for part of the year. For reasons unknown, you won't find any mention of this in Todd's e-book. Either she is not the investigative whiz she proclaims herself to be, or perhaps a blitzkreig on Canadian soil simply lacked the  excitement of a self-funded foray into the domesticated jungle?

Stephen Williams on "Finding Karla"

Magazine cover featuring Stephen Williams

For those who are unaware of who Stephen Williams is, or why anyone should care what he thinks about Finding Karla, he authored two books on the crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. His first book, Invisible Darkness, is considered to be the most accurate account of the husband and wife's rape and murder spree. In fact, it was argued (in court) that Williams' description of the crimes were so accurate that he was accused of having viewed the banned videotapes that Bernardo had made of the attacks on Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. 

Williams follow-up book was more about Karla Homolka herself than it was about the crimes that she admitted to. Homolka exchanged a series of letters with Williams during her incarceration, which became the foundation for Karla: A Pact with the Devil. In those letters, she discussed everything from her frustrations with the justice system to her daily beauty routine. 

If I were to name any one person as the foremost authority on this case, it would be Stephen Williams. This is what he had to say about Paula Todd's $3 e-book, Finding Karla:

FINDING KARLA: FRAUD, FICTION OR BOTH? (Link will open in a new window)

Karla Homolka makes appearance in Deadlight game

Gaming forums are abuzz with talk of the strange "collectibles" featured in Deadlight, a survival horror platform game released on August 1, 2012. 

The story follows Canadian Mountie hero Randall Wayne as he slashes through zombies on his way from Vancouver, British Columbia to Seattle, Washington in search of his kidnapped wife and daughter. Along the way, the hero encounters a number of corpses with I.D. cards bearing the names of notorious serial killers. Among the 15 cards (which can be collected by the player) is #9: Karla L. Homolka.

It's possible that Homolka's appearance in the game is due to increased awareness about her life and crimes resulting from the recent e-book, Finding Karla, by Paula Todd. However, anyone who has managed a web site, blog, or forum featuring information about Homolka can tell you that public interest in her never really went away; it simply went underground, just as she did.

If anybody has a screen grab of Homolka's I.D. in Deadlight, I would love to post it here.

Outside Links

Ex-convicted killer Karla Homolka starring in Deadlight?

giantbomb.com

Deadlight serial killer IDs

xbox360achievements.org

BabyCenter users weigh in on Homolka

News clipping prior to Homolka's release from prison in 2005

Those who have been following the movements of convicted serial killer Karla Homolka know that she has been avid user of a number of Internet parenting forums. One of her favourite hangouts was the popular online community, BabyCenter. Although Homolka, who posted there under the name love.you.forever, had been "outed" on the site a number of times, many of the posts and threads related to her ongoing presence there were locked or deleted by forum administrators who were presumably not too keen on the decidedly dark flavour of the discussions.

Recently, I happened upon yet another discussion about the woman who served only 12 years of soft time for her participation in the rape and murder of 3 Ontario teenagers -- one of them her own sister, Tammy Lyn. This time, I had the foresight to save the discussion before community moderators made it disappear. The discussion was posted on July 22, and was "locked for review" by a moderator later that same day.

The concerned mothers of BabyCenter filled 20 comment pages with their thoughts and reactions to the shocking news that they had been posting alongside a convicted killer:

August 1, 2012: I have replaced the PDF below with a new file; this version has been edited to hide all personal avatars that included pictures of children. Although the discussion was public, I didn't feel comfortable displaying those types of photos here. I did not receive any complaints; this was simply a change that I deemed appropriate for this blog.  

BabyCenter Debate Team: Karla Homolka Being Hunted and Photographed (PDF)

"What do people in Guadeloupe think of Karla Homolka living there?"

Karla Homolka in Montreal
(Photo: CTV News)

I read this article a while back, but tossed it into a rarely-used bookmarks folder and didn't see it again until just now:

What do people in Guadeloupe think of Karla Homolka living there?

June 22, 2012
Reported by Mylène Colmar in Guadeloupe and Benjamin Shingler in Montreal


Residents of Guadeloupe expressed confusion, shock and anxiety as word spread Friday that notorious Canadian killer Karla Homolka has been quietly living as their neighbour.

Hours after details of Homolka’s post-prison life surfaced in a new book by journalist Paula Todd, locals were busy reading up about the past life of the ex-convict, now 42 years old and a mother of three.

As the news spread online and through friends, the reaction in Guadeloupe, a set of islands in the Caribbean with a population 400,000, was a mixture of surprise and worry.

Several people interviewed by OpenFile in one of the country’s larger towns, Abymes, said they had never heard the name before Friday, though they were concerned after learning about her past.

“I found out Karla Homolka was in Guadeloupe from a friend of mine who’s a Canadian journalist,” said Axelle Kaulanjan-Diamant, a local journalist and philosophy professor.

“She sent me a link to an article and said, ‘I think you should know about this.’”

Kaulanjan-Diamant said she still doesn’t know much about Homolka’s case but that “it seems problematic that, given her criminal past, she can be around children.”

Residents in Guadeloupe wondered whether local police were aware of Homolka’s presence and had been monitoring her activity.

"I am very surprised that she’s in Guadeloupe and I wonder why she decided to come here,” said Fabrice, 30, who asked that his last name not be used. “This is worrisome.”

Some appeared ready to let Homolka move on, suggesting that even the woman who was involved in the torture and murder of three teenagers – including her own sister – deserves a second chance.

"This woman has already served her sentence,” said Clémence, 66, a retired member of the civil service.

“She has rebuilt her life, she has young children. I think of them – they did nothing wrong – and I wonder if we should just leave her alone. If she’s not bothering anyone anymore, not doing anything wrong, I don’t see why we need to go into all of this again.”

The book, “Finding Karla,” confirms earlier reports that Homolka married her lawyer’s brother, had a child and moved to the French Caribbean to avoid the public eye. It does not reveal exactly where in Guadeloupe Homolka is now living.

Following up on a number of online rumours, Todd tracked her down in a small apartment, living a quiet life in a small village under the name Leanne Bordelais with her spouse, Thierry Bordelais, and her children.

Nearly twenty years ago, Homolka and then-husband Paul Bernardo made headlines around the world for the sex killings of Ontario schoolgirls Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, and the drug induced death of Homolka’s sister Tammy.

In what was termed a “deal with the devil,” Homolka struck a bargain with prosecutors to help them convict Bernardo, who was also found guilty of rapes he committed in Scarborough.

Homolka was given a 12-year sentence, while Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison.

After her release in 2005, Homolka moved to Quebec, where she attempted to live a quiet life away from the spotlight. She granted a single interview to Radio-Canada in the hopes of putting the issue to rest.

“It was a very difficult decision to take because I am a very private person and I don't like to talk about my feelings,” she said at the time. “I want to keep things to myself but it is not possible.”

In Guadeloupe, Todd spoke to Homolka for an hour inside her apartment. What she found was a woman trying to leave her past behind, whom she describes as a “housewife trapped with her kids in a cage that she built herself.”

“If this were anyone else, I’d say she was lonely and slightly bored,” Todd writes.